Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1887-08-04
BURIED ALIVE.
"a Quarter Of Mile Below the
Earth's Surface.
Thrilling Experiente of Four Men in n
Flooded Silver Mine--Nothing but
Bit OF Machinery Between
Them and Death.

A man with big white hat, a fam
mel shirt and heavy mountain suit of
clothes on, sat in the reading-room of
McCoy's Hotel yesterday morning.
de was restless kind of man. He
wandered to the newspaper files,
roamed over to the ice-water tank.
over to the cigar-stand and finally he
sat down and began to smoke Some
thing in his appearance attracted the
attention of another man who hap
pened in and he walked up to the first
individual and said: Your name is
Charley Goatch, if l mistake not. You
were once in Virginia City. You
worked in the Southend mines, didn't
youP" The man rose and indicated
with a nod of the head that his ques-
TONER was right.
Mr.. Goatch is man of fifty or more.
He had worked in the Bonanza mines
for years and was known as faithful
servant at four dollars a day for eight
hours work three eight-hour shifts
The man who had interrupted his
reverie was recognized as having been
connected with the Virginia City
papers, and the two sat down for a
chat. Mr.. Goatch said: you know
when the Bonanza began to 'peter;'
well, then l went down~to work for
Superintendent Boyle, at the Alta.
That's away down, you know, below
Gold Hill. saw the Iribuae's story
about that old Mammoth Cave in Ken
lucky. Of course it's a wonder.
never was in it, although I've lived
half my life in caves; but if the man
who wrote the story would come
to me l could tell a story that
would make his hair grayer than
mine. You remember the story OF
the Alta mine. You were there"
"Great Scott! were you one of those
four menp" was asked.
81 was. Didn't you know itp Look
at my hairp"
The miner was indeed prematurely
gray.
''You couldn't get me into the Nam.
moth or any other cave now" he said.
81 wouldn't go into mine for mil
lion dollars unless could see bucket
and rope"
And then the miner told his story
In 1878 he was working in the Ats
Mine, at Virginia City, New. The mine
was an assessment proposition thai
is, it was worked by contributions o.
stockholders, enforced, of course, by
law. Not dollar of bullion had evel
come out, yet assessments had sent the
shaft down 1850 feet and put up {
plant in machinery worth $3.50, 600
Drifts were run 100 feet to tap The
ledge, and at each of those station,
was a commodious chamber. "The Alta
Mine was always full of water" sale
the miner. "She was the wettest thins
/ ever worked in. The big pump, tina
cost $3.50, 900, had more than she coult
do, without driving, to keep the water
down. 1t was in May, 1878, that
blast down on the 1850 Embossed ;
water pocket that drove everybod.
to the cages, They rushed VI
the shaft and were all right
But nobody seemed to re
member little shift of fou
men at work in a south cross-cut from
the 1,650-level. We was drivin' in t.
catch the foot wall of the ledge and t.
do that we ran half way upraise. II
M just draw you littl'
Ha mSl sketch here to SHOW
TMTw what I'm coming at.
W ~ "You see the shaft |
IN n perpen dicular l,75
" ~ feet down. AT tn
w ~ 1850 station our cross
"a " cut goes off on an up
III x,ussgsj